Box Score ST. LOUIS, MO. – Junior
Madison Zbaraschuk's walk-off RBI double in the seventh inning lifted the No. 6 University of Missouri-St. Louis softball team to a 4-3 victory over No. 25 Truman State on Sunday in the NCAA Midwest Regional #1 final, sending the Tritons to the Super Regionals.
The Tritons will face Wayne State-Mich. (44-9), winners of the Midwest Regional #2, next weekend in a best of three-games series, at a site yet to be announced by the NCAA. The first game will be played on Friday, May 16, with a second, and possibly third, to follow on Saturday, May 17. The Warriors defeated Indianapolis, 7-0, in their final today.
UMSL improved to 48-6 overall with the win, recording its 10
th straight victory.
Zbaraschuk's heroics came after the Tritons' lone senior,
Ashleigh King, led off the seventh inning by reaching on an error and advancing to second on the high throw by Bulldogs' third baseman Cate Simon. Zbaraschuk, who was 0-2 before her game-winning hit, swung on the first pitch, delivering the ball to deep left center, bringing King across the plate.
UMSL, which hadn't trailed all tournament, overcame two one-run deficits in the game to garner the win.
Truman State, which scored all three runs on solo homeruns, jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first on a shot by Andrew Klipsch off UMSL starter
Brittni Chapman.
The Tritons countered in the bottom of the frame as freshman
Alex Stupek scored junior
Katie Rutledge with a two-out ground-rule double. Rutledge led off the inning with a single to second base.
Junior
Jena Boudreau then delivered her 11
th homerun of the season in the third inning with a solo shot over the right field fence to put the Tritons on top, 2-1.
The Bulldogs scored their final two runs in the fourth inning, leading off with back-to-back homeruns off Tritons ace
Hannah Perryman.
Junior
Brianna Butler later knotted the score at 3-3 in the sixth inning with a one-out line drive over the left center wall. It was her team-leading 14
th of the season and the 32
nd of her career.
Truman State led off the seventh with a deep double to centerfield before Perryman was able to retire the side.
Perryman picked up the win in five and one-thirds of an inning in relief, allowing two runs on three hits, while striking out seven.
Both teams recorded six hits and were charged with one error.